Bobsleds and Admissions Deadlines

While we’ve worked with students from all over the world at Ivy Coach, we’re not sure we’ve ever had a student from Jamaica. Let’s change that.

“‘Nuff people say they know they can’t believe, Jamaica we have a bobsled team.” As the Early Decision and Early Action deadline quickly approaches, we so often think about one of the best sports movies ever made — “Cool Runnings.” If you’ve never seen “Cool Runnings,” it’s about a group of Jamaican sprinters who didn’t qualify to represent their country in track and field. And so, naturally, they turned to bobsledding. In Jamaica. Where there is no snow.

While the four new bobsledders are remarkably athletic, it’s tough to be able to master a sport in a very limited time frame that they’ve never competed in to be able to race on the world stage. And yet, in one of the great sports moments (the movie is inspired by a true story!), the Jamaican bobsledders qualified for the Olympic Games. But it wasn’t smooth, well, bobsledding. It would often take them quite a while to all load into their bobsled in a sport where every fraction of a second to hop in and tuck into the bobsled counts big time. So why do looming college admissions deadlines get us thinking about the amazing Jamaican bobsledders? Because there is so much each student must complete before the deadline. This student needs to fix his activities. That student needs to finalize a supplemental essay. This student is waiting on her SAT Subject Test scores. It’s a whole process to get everyone into the bobsled, tucked in neatly.

But, in short order, all of our students will be tucked into their bobsleds and there will even be time to spare. Yes, even for our procrastinating students. You know who we’re talking about. Why yes. Yes, it’s you. “Jamaica, we have a bobsled team.”